European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and International Coach Federation (ICF) and others, Professional Charter for Coaching and Mentoring, June 2011

The coaching profession consisting of executive, business, personal and other specialty coaches, has grown exponentially over the past decade. In order to inform the public and to contribute to the professionalisation of coaching and mentoring, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) together with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and others have created and adopted a Professional Charter for Coaching and Mentoring. This Professional Charter includes the requirement to undergo relevant coach-specific or mentor-specific training to include both theoretical and practical competence in the exercise of their profession, in a context where competencies are to be measured against a broadly recognised (by professional associations) specific Competency Framework. The Professional Charter also requires practitioners to undertake ongoing efforts to develop and maintain their competence through relevant education and training, and coaches and mentors are encouraged to maintain ready access to a more senior and/or more experienced coach or mentor, whom they should consult on a regular basis whilst active on coaching or mentoring programmes. The Professional Charter further requires coaches and mentors to abide explicitly by a Code of Ethics containing minimum standards of ethics and professional behaviour described in the Professional Charter . It also requires that professional organisations make such a commitment a condition of individual coach/mentor membership. Finally, the Professional Charter requires that professional organisations have in place an organisation and a procedure to monitor and deal with cases of alleged breach of the Code.

Coaches and mentors, consumers of their professional services, and professional coaching and mentoring organisations.

Unilateral Professional Charter

Private membership dues and other revenues.

The Professional Charter requires of subscribing professional bodies that they set up an independent body, composed of professional members such as to ensure no conflict of interest, responsible for designing and overseeing a monitoring and sanctions procedure for the Professional Charter. At the heart of the Professional Charter is a requirement that subscribing professional bodies make it a condition of membership that their members abide by a Code of Ethics containing minimum standards, and that they shall have and enforce a Disciplinary and Complaints procedure to deal with cases of alleged breaches of such a Code of Ethics. In this regard, both the EMCC and the ICF are committed to providing a forum where individuals can bring complaints about alleged breaches of the Code of Ethics by their members and accredited/credentialed coaches. Both professional bodies have adopted a policy and set of procedures that provide for review, investigation and response to alleged unethical practices or behaviour deviating from their respective Codes of Ethics. To affect this policy, both organisations have implemented a process, (ICF's Ethical Conduct Review (ECR) Process; and the EMCC's Complaints and Disciplinary Procedure) for the fair review of complaints concerning the ethical conduct of their members and accredited/credentialed coaches; and be responsive to complaints concerning experiences believed to be breaches of their Codes of Ethics. The EMCC encourages the resolution of concerns about a member’s professional conduct directly, if this is appropriate and achievable, through discussion and facilitation. In the case of the ICF, the ECR Process, which is administered by an Independent Review Board (IRB), also allows for certain matters with the consent of all parties to be referred to a Mediated Resolution Panel.